‘Women get less and less rights’ says 53 years’ old Seyhaa, who has founded the Turkmen Women’s Organization in Baghdad to counter the pressure by religious extremists. ‘… From fear of reprsisals, parents will not let their daughters go to school anymore. Women do not dare to go to their work anymore. We can no longer decide how we dress and where we are going.’

According to Houzan Mahmoud of the Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq, the war has set back her country for decades in its development. ‘Saddam was a cruel dictator; however, society was progressive. Maybe women were not politically active; however, they played major roles in business and had good university jobs. They cannot do that anymore.’

A big problem for women is that they cannot appeal to the Iraqi authorities to guarantee their safety. The militias threatening the women are intertwined with the police and intelligence services. They are also linked to Iraqi political parties. Like the Badr-militias of the Shi’ite Supreme Islamic Council (ISCI), one of the main parties in the Iraqi government. …

The coalition armed forces in Iraq also do little to help the women, as that would be against their political aims. For instance, the USA has made the ISCI into an ally in the fight against the pro Iran militias of Muqtada Sadr. There are even not yet confirmed reports that the United States armed forces arrest female family members of suspected rebels, in order to pressure those rebels. Those women, after their release, may be killed by their own families, as family honour is supposedly stained by their ‘immoral’ stay amidst United States male soldiers.